Economics is a subject that really relates to core aspects of human well-being, and there’s a methodology for thinking about these things. This was a very appealing combination to me. Market systems are capable of massive breakdowns that can result in long, devastating periods of high unemployment. And I felt that economists had really learned something about how to address that.

Janet Yellen, in "The Hand on the Lever" in The New Yorker (July 21, 2014) by Nicholas Lemann